You can tell the day’s weather won’t be good when you see this:
Taken just before the snow started …
I wish I could run the snowblower up and down the driveway to preemptively level it at -5 inches, so the snowfall would end with almost bare asphalt.
Long ago, they promised me heated driveways and sidewalks to eliminate snow shoveling, but it hasn’t worked out that way, either.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 
Who, exactly, was the “they” who promised heated driveways and sidewalks? Was it the same “they” who promised you a free lunch?
By and large, the same folks who promised power too cheap to meter.
We might eventually get there with solar, although I credit Eks for asking “If solar power is so good, why is there winter?”
I’d imagine same folks who envisioned atomic power cars :)
Suppose you could send some over here? Our best guess is that we’ve had 8 inches of snow all winter, and they’ve declared a drought year again. I have the snow blower at the barn to clear a path to the pumphouse, but the only time it has run is when I moved it from the garage to the barn. The snowplow was used once, and is now off the tractor.
FWIW, I had my first failure on the 2012 Forester. When it failed, pressing the brake pedal lit up the traction control and ABS lights. Couldn’t get the park-detent to release. I talked to the service guy (we actually have a competent dealership service department) and he recommended looking for brake lights; not on.
AAA handled the 40 mile tow to the shop, and it ended up being a failed brake pressure switch. We did a full day’s shopping, and it didn’t fail until we parked it to unload groceries at home. Good Forester! Super easy to load the car. (You can release the Park detent by removing the plug near the P position and using a probe to depress the solenoid.) The bad news; no switches in stock, so it’ll be a day or two to get the car back up.
At which time, I need a new windshield for the other Forester. Oregon DOT started to use bigger rocks (they won’t use salt), and one caught the windshield just in front of me; no plastic repair possible. The glass guy says they’ve had a lot of this over the winter. Sigh.
Umpty years ago we moved from NY to CT. On The Last Trip, eastbound on I-84, just before the CT border, a pebble cracked the windshield. I always figured NY bid us adieu in its own special way …
Thanks for the reminder about the brake release: I just verified I can pull the plug and poke the release using only the in-car tools. Good to know, just in case.